CLOSING BELL: US stock indexes close lower, slide below record high levels

Monday

Jun 5, 2017 at 2:17 PMJun 5, 2017 at 2:17 PM

The Associated Press

U.S. stocks closed slightly lower Monday, capping a mostly quiet day of trading that eased the market back from record highs set late last week.

Utilities and materials companies posted some of the biggest losses. Energy stocks led the gainers, even as crude oil prices declined. Technology companies and banks also bucked the downward trend. Google parent Alphabet closed above $1,000 a share for the first time.

The dip snapped a two-day winning streak for stocks, which have been mostly pushing higher this year. The major stock market indexes hit new highs last Thursday and Friday.

"Equities are digesting the gains from last week," said Michael Baele, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management.

"All these positives are holding the market up here and are likely to help stocks grind higher for the rest of the year," Baele said.

Benchmark U.S. crude slid 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, to close at $47.40 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 48 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $49.47 a barrel in London.

Bond prices fell. The 10-year Treasury yield inched up to 2.18 percent from 2.19 percent late Friday, when it sank to its lowest level of the year.

Investors bid up shares of some technology companies, giving the sector a slight gain. Among them: Google's parent Alphabet, which eclipsed the $1,000 per share threshold for the first time. The search giant's stock added $7.76, or 0.8 percent, to $1,003.88.

Herbalife was among the day's big movers. The seller of supplements and weight-loss products slid 6.7 percent after it lowered its second-quarter revenue and volume projections. The company noted that a switch to new sales tactics is affecting its business in the U.S., and sales in Mexico were weak. The stock lost $4.93 to $68.99.